Wild drop match to Bobcats

FRISCO, Texas. — In spite of outshooting and out-chancing the Bismarck Bobcats, the Wenatchee Wild suffered a 3-2 loss Friday during the first day of competition at the 2013 NAHL Robertson Cup Championship Tournament at the Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas.

Deadlocked in a 2-2 tie for 28:18, the decisive goal was scored with 1:05 left in regulation when Bismarck's Stanislav Dzakhov lit the lamp on a breakaway. After receiving a long pass, Dzakhov used a forehand-to-backhand move for the game-winner.

"We had our chances," said Wenatchee Wild head coach Bliss Littler. "That's a tough one ... it's one of those nights. You have to forget about the loss, move on quickly and get ready to play again [Saturday]."

Up next for the second-seeded Wild are the fourth-seeded Jamestown Ironmen, who won the North Division title. The game will begin at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. For a small fee, fans can watch the game live by logging on to www.FASTHockey.com. Wenatchee went 2-1-1 against Jamestown in the regular season.

"They're a good defensive team," Littler said of the Ironmen. "They skate well, they're very tactical, very systematic. We'll have to bring our A-game Saturday."

The Wild played a good game Friday, they just couldn't get a third puck past Bismarck goalie Aaron Nelson, who made 23 saves on 25 shots in the win.

Locked in a 2-2 tie for 28:18, the Wild had a couple of golden opportunities to score the go-ahead goal in the third period. Jono Davis (La Verne, Calif.) launched a wicked slapper from the slot with 11:31 left in the third period that clanged off the iron.

Perhaps Wenatchee's best chance to score the game-winner came with four minutes remaining in regulation. After the Bobcats turned the puck over at their blue line, Joe Sullivan (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Jacob Barber (Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) executed a perfect give-and-go but, on Barber's return feed, Sullivan was tied up by a defender and could not tap the puck into a wide open net.

The Bobcats scored the first goal of the game Friday when Joe Giordano knocked a loose puck into the Wild net 3:22 after the opening faceoff. Chris Diver earned the lone assist.

The Wild needed just 36 seconds to tie up the game when Dylan Abood (Centennial, Colo.) scored from a sharp angle from the left wing on his backhand after the Wild entered the offensive zone 3-on-3. Chris Kerr (Penticton, British Columbia) picked up the only assist.

Wenatchee almost earned the go-ahead goal later in the first period on a 2-on-1, but Nelson stopped Kerr's shot.

The Wild took their first lead in the game 9:03 into the second period on Evan Schmidbauer's (Surey, British Columbia) marker. After an extended trip in the offensive zone thanks to great work along the boards and multiple puck battle wins, Schmidbauer hit pay dirt on a juicy rebound off of Josh Hartley's (Coquitlam, British Columbia) shot from the point. Chris Jones (Normandy Park, Wash.) also assisted.

Unfortunately, the Bobcats came right back and tied up the game 2-2 less than two minutes later when Matt Anders scored from the slot. Set Blair and Nate Repensky assisted on the equalizer.

Robert Nichols (Dallas, Texas) made 18 saves on 21 shots for the Wild.